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In mathematics, the Fubini–Study metric (IPA: /fubini-ʃtuːdi/) is a Kähler metric on a complex projective
space CPn endowed with a Hermitian form. This metric was originally described in 1904 and 1905 by
Guido Fubini and Eduard Study.[1][2]
A Hermitian form in (the vector space) Cn+1 defines a unitary subgroup U(n+1) in GL(n+1,C). A Fubini–
Study metric is determined up to homothety (overall scaling) by invariance under such a U(n+1) action;
thus it is homogeneous. Equipped with a Fubini–Study metric, CPn is a symmetric space. The particular
normalization on the metric depends on the application. In Riemannian geometry, one uses a normalization
so that the Fubini–Study metric simply relates to the standard metric on the (2n+1)-sphere. In algebraic
geometry, one uses a normalization making CPn a Hodge manifold.
Construction
The Fubini–Study metric arises naturally in the quotient space construction of complex projective space.
Specifically, one may define CPn to be the space consisting of all complex lines in Cn+1 , i.e., the quotient
of Cn+1 \{0} by the equivalence relation relating all complex multiples of each point together. This agrees
with the quotient by the diagonal group action of the multiplicative group C* = C \ {0}:
This quotient realizes Cn+1 \{0} as a complex line bundle over the base space CPn . (In fact this is the so-
called tautological bundle over CPn .) A point of CPn is thus identified with an equivalence class of (n+1)-
tuples [Z0 ,...,Zn ] modulo nonzero complex rescaling; the Zi are called homogeneous coordinates of the
point.
Furthermore, one may realize this quotient mapping in two steps: since multiplication by a nonzero complex
scalar z = R eiθ can be uniquely thought of as the composition of a dilation by the modulus R followed by a
counterclockwise rotation about the origin by an angle , the quotient mapping Cn+1 → CPn splits into two
pieces.
where step (a) is a quotient by the dilation Z ~ RZ for R ∈ R+, the multiplicative group of positive real
numbers, and step (b) is a quotient by the rotations Z ~ eiθZ.
The result of the quotient in (a) is the real hypersphere S2n+1 defined by the equation |Z|2 =
|Z0 |2 + ... + |Zn |2 = 1. The quotient in (b) realizes CPn = S2n+1 /S1 , where S1 represents the group of
rotations. This quotient is realized explicitly by the famous Hopf fibration S1 → S2n+1 → CPn , the fibers of
which are among the great circles of .
As a metric quotient
When a quotient is taken of a Riemannian manifold (or metric space in general), care must be taken to
ensure that the quotient space is endowed with a metric that is well-defined. For instance, if a group G acts
on a Riemannian manifold (X,g), then in order for the orbit space X/G to possess an induced metric, must
be constant along G-orbits in the sense that for any element h ∈ G and pair of vector fields we must
have g(Xh,Yh) = g(X,Y).
whose realification is the standard Euclidean metric on R2n+2 . This metric is not invariant under the
diagonal action of C* , so we are unable to directly push it down to CPn in the quotient. However, this
metric is invariant under the diagonal action of S1 = U(1), the group of rotations. Therefore, step (b) in the
above construction is possible once step (a) is accomplished.
The Fubini–Study metric is the metric induced on the quotient CPn = S2n+1 /S1 , where carries the
so-called "round metric" endowed upon it by restriction of the standard Euclidean metric to the unit
hypersphere.
Corresponding to a point in CPn with homogeneous coordinates [Z0 :...:Zn ], there is a unique set of n
coordinates (z1 ,...,zn ) such that
provided Z0 ≠ 0; specifically, zj = Zj/Z0 . The (z1 ,...,zn ) form an affine coordinate system for CPn in the
coordinate patch U0 = {Z0 ≠ 0}. One can develop an affine coordinate system in any of the coordinate
patches Ui = {Zi ≠ 0} by dividing instead by Zi in the obvious manner. The n+1 coordinate patches Ui
cover CPn , and it is possible to give the metric explicitly in terms of the affine coordinates (z1 ,...,zn ) on Ui.
The coordinate derivatives define a frame of the holomorphic tangent bundle of CPn , in
terms of which the Fubini–Study metric has Hermitian components
where |z|2 = |z1 |2 + ... + |zn |2 . That is, the Hermitian matrix of the Fubini–Study metric in this frame is
Note that each matrix element is unitary-invariant: the diagonal action will leave this matrix
unchanged.
In this last expression, the summation convention is used to sum over Latin indices i,j that range from 1 to n.
as
An expression is also possible in the notation of homogeneous coordinates, commonly used to describe
projective varieties of algebraic geometry: Z = [Z0 :...:Zn ]. Formally, subject to suitably interpreting the
expressions involved, one has
Here the summation convention is used to sum over Greek indices α β ranging from 0 to n, and in the last
equality the standard notation for the skew part of a tensor is used:
Now, this expression for ds2 apparently defines a tensor on the total space of the tautological bundle Cn+1 \
{0}. It is to be understood properly as a tensor on CPn by pulling it back along a holomorphic section σ of
the tautological bundle of CPn . It remains then to verify that the value of the pullback is independent of the
choice of section: this can be done by a direct calculation.
{\di
where the are the Dolbeault operators. The pullback of this is clearly independent of the choice of
holomorphic section. The quantity log|Z|2 is the Kähler potential (sometimes called the Kähler scalar) of
CPn .
In quantum mechanics, the Fubini–Study metric is also known as the Bures metric.[4] However, the Bures
metric is typically defined in the notation of mixed states, whereas the exposition below is written in terms
of a pure state. The real part of the metric is (a quarter of) the Fisher information metric.[4]
The Fubini–Study metric may be written using the bra–ket notation commonly used in quantum mechanics.
To explicitly equate this notation to the homogeneous coordinates given above, let
where is a set of orthonormal basis vectors for Hilbert space, the are complex numbers, and
is the standard notation for a point in the projective space CPn in homogeneous
coordinates. Then, given two points and in the space, the distance (length of a
geodesic) between them is
The infinitesimal form of this metric may be quickly obtained by taking , or equivalently,
to obtain
In the context of quantum mechanics, CP1 is called the Bloch sphere; the Fubini–Study metric is the natural
metric for the geometrization of quantum mechanics. Much of the peculiar behaviour of quantum
mechanics, including quantum entanglement and the Berry phase effect, can be attributed to the peculiarities
of the Fubini–Study metric.
The n = 1 case
When n = 1, there is a diffeomorphism given by stereographic projection. This leads to the
"special" Hopf fibration S → S → S . When the Fubini–Study metric is written in coordinates on CP1 , its
1 3 2
restriction to the real tangent bundle yields an expression of the ordinary "round metric" of radius 1/2 (and
Gaussian curvature 4) on S2 .
Namely, if z = x + iy is the standard affine coordinate chart on the Riemann sphere CP1 and x = r cos θ,
y = r sin θ are polar coordinates on C, then a routine computation shows
where is the round metric on the unit 2-sphere. Here φ, θ are "mathematician's spherical coordinates"
2
on S coming from the stereographic projection r tan(φ/2) = 1, tan θ = y/x. (Many physics references
interchange the roles of φ and θ.)
The n = 2 case
The Fubini–Study metric on the complex projective plane CP2 has been proposed as a gravitational
instanton, the gravitational analog of an instanton.[5][3] The metric, the connection form and the curvature
are readily computed, once suitable real 4D coordinates are established. Writing for real
Cartesian coordinates, one then defines polar coordinate one-forms on the 4-sphere (the quaternionic
projective line) as
The are the standard left-invariant one-form coordinate frame on the Lie group ;
that is, they obey for cyclic.
The line element, starting with the previously given expression, is given by
The vierbeins can be immediately read off from the last expression:
That is, in the vierbein coordinate system, using roman-letter subscripts, the metric tensor is Euclidean:
Given the vierbein, a spin connection can be computed; the Levi-Civita spin connection is the unique
connection that is torsion-free and covariantly constant, namely, it is the one-form that satisfies the
torsion-free condition
and is covariantly constant, which, for spin connections, means that it is antisymmetric in the vierbein
indexes:
and is constant:
are self-dual:
Curvature properties
In the n = 1 special case, the Fubini–Study metric has constant sectional curvature identically equal to 4,
according to the equivalence with the 2-sphere's round metric (which given a radius R has sectional
curvature ). However, for n > 1, the Fubini–Study metric does not have constant curvature. Its
sectional curvature is instead given by the equation[6]
A consequence of this formula is that the sectional curvature satisfies for all 2-planes .
The maximum sectional curvature (4) is attained at a holomorphic 2-plane — one for which J(σ) ⊂ σ —
while the minimum sectional curvature (1) is attained at a 2-plane for which J(σ) is orthogonal to σ. For this
reason, the Fubini–Study metric is often said to have "constant holomorphic sectional curvature" equal to 4.
This makes CPn a (non-strict) quarter pinched manifold; a celebrated theorem shows that a strictly quarter-
pinched simply connected n-manifold must be homeomorphic to a sphere.
The Fubini–Study metric is also an Einstein metric in that it is proportional to its own Ricci tensor: there
exists a constant ; such that for all i,j we have
This implies, among other things, that the Fubini–Study metric remains unchanged up to a scalar multiple
under the Ricci flow. It also makes CPn indispensable to the theory of general relativity, where it serves as a
nontrivial solution to the vacuum Einstein field equations.
The cosmological constant for CPn is given in terms of the dimension of the space:
Product metric
The common notions of separability apply for the Fubini–Study metric. More precisely, the metric is
separable on the natural product of projective spaces, the Segre embedding. That is, if is a separable
state, so that it can be written as , then the metric is the sum of the metric on the
subspaces:
where and are the metrics, respectively, on the subspaces A and B.
See also
Non-linear sigma model
Kaluza–Klein theory
Arakelov height
References
1. G. Fubini, "Sulle metriche definite da una forma Hermitiana", (1904) Atti del Reale Istituto
Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti , 63 pp. 501–513
2. Study, E. (1905). "Kürzeste Wege im komplexen Gebiet". Mathematische Annalen (in
German). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. 60 (3): 321–378.
doi:10.1007/bf01457616 (https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fbf01457616). ISSN 0025-5831 (https://
www.worldcat.org/issn/0025-5831). S2CID 120961275 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/Corp
usID:120961275).
3. Eguchi, Tohru; Gilkey, Peter B.; Hanson, Andrew J. (1980). "Gravitation, gauge theories and
differential geometry" (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234195796). Physics
Reports. Elsevier BV. 66 (6): 213–393. Bibcode:1980PhR....66..213E (https://ui.adsabs.harv
ard.edu/abs/1980PhR....66..213E). doi:10.1016/0370-1573(80)90130-1 (https://doi.org/10.10
16%2F0370-1573%2880%2990130-1). ISSN 0370-1573 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/037
0-1573).
4. Paolo Facchi, Ravi Kulkarni, V. I. Man'ko, Giuseppe Marmo, E. C. G. Sudarshan, Franco
Ventriglia "Classical and Quantum Fisher Information in the Geometrical Formulation of
Quantum Mechanics (https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.5219)" (2010), Physics Letters A 374 pp.
4801. doi:10.1016/j.physleta.2010.10.005 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.physleta.2010.10.00
5)
5. Eguchi, Tohru; Freund, Peter G. O. (1976-11-08). "Quantum Gravity and World Topology".
Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society (APS). 37 (19): 1251–1254.
Bibcode:1976PhRvL..37.1251E (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1976PhRvL..37.1251E).
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.37.1251 (https://doi.org/10.1103%2Fphysrevlett.37.1251).
ISSN 0031-9007 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0031-9007).
6. Sakai, T. Riemannian Geometry, Translations of Mathematical Monographs No. 149 (1995),
American Mathematics Society.
7. Andrew J. Hanson, Ji-PingSha, "Visualizing the K3 Surface (ftp://ftp.cs.indiana.edu/pub/hans
on/forSha/AK3/old/K3-pix.pdf)" (2006)
Besse, Arthur L. (1987), Einstein manifolds, Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer
Grenzgebiete (3) [Results in Mathematics and Related Areas (3)], vol. 10, Berlin, New York:
Springer-Verlag, pp. xii+510, ISBN 978-3-540-15279-8
Brody, D.C.; Hughston, L.P. (2001), "Geometric Quantum Mechanics", Journal of Geometry
and Physics, 38 (1): 19–53, arXiv:quant-ph/9906086 (https://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/990608
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